Teachings of a Shoddy Master
by Kingleer
Summary: Having awoken from a sudden disruption in his life, a man finds himself in the past of a old series he had watched as a child. Wielding Pokemon and items from his latest 8-bit gaming travels, Isaac traverses the world of Pokemon along side a raven haired youth and his electric starter.
1. Prologue

"I didn't wake up this morning thinking I would have to drag a half dead ten year-old and his equally half dead Pikachu to town today," Isaac grunted as he readjusted Ash's arm over his shoulders.

Ash gave an awkward laugh, "Well, if it makes you feel any better neither did I." Pikachu just gave a tired squeak as the Pokemon laid in Ash's own free arm.

"Hey, when do you think we'll get to-," Ash's question halted as they suddenly stumbled over the wet earth before Isaac quickly readjusted with a pained grunt and kept them from falling. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just my leg acting up a little. Nothing to worry about," Isaac said as he continued trekking up the hill.

Ash didn't dismiss the answer, much to the his annoyance. "Why, whats wrong with it? Does it hurt? I can walk by myself if it would help."

"Slow down kid, I'm fine just a little accident I had years ago. No need to go flapping your gums at me over noth'n." He answered with no little amount of annoyance. Either Ash didn't notice his tone or simply didn't care because Ash simply nod his head happily.

The both of them continued up the muddy, dense road quietly after that. Ash thinking over the beginning of his day up to this point and wondering if Gary had encounter as big as an ordeal as he had.

'_Probably not, but I bet I beat Gary to town and everyone else from Pallet!'_ He thought enthusiastically. His spirits only continued to rise as his Pikachu, the same that had wanted nothing to do with him, gave an affectionate lick to the side of his face. He held a large smile as he gazed at his official new friend.

Isaac on the other hand wasn't feeling as enthused as the child he now carried. His brain felt on fire, his body sore and his leg ached painfully as he continued to carry Ash closer to Viridian City.

It didn't help that he felt he became partially insane. He was carrying a boy that shouldn't be real, along with a creature that shouldn't be real, to a town that shouldn't be real in a world that shouldn't exist.

He knew straight away where he was when he caught sight of the Pokemon when he awoke in the woods earlier this morning. It took the rest of the day as he silently sat in the wilderness to register the severeness of his situation. During that time he began digging through the large backpack he awoke next to.

Inside was an assortment of Pokeballs, Pokemon medicine, TMs and other items. He knew what they all were from the past television shows and games he had played involving Pokemon. Not only that, but there was six pokeballs fastened to his belt and he would bet his money that they were filled with Pokemon. Speaking of which, while he searched his pants for more unexpected items he found a billfold filled with a large amount of cash.

He didn't know what to do after his search besides stare at his belt holding the six unknown Pokemon in his possession, scared of what would happen if he released them. It took some time but in the end he manned up and released them one at a time, not wanting to risk unleashing six unknown Pokemon.

The first was a Jolteon that released sparks from its spiny body along with a vicious bark. He backed up as it continued with the intense display of electricity before it stopped and it looked around in confusion. It glanced at him with a tilt of its head, wondering why it was released if not for the purpose of battle.

They continued to stare before the Jolteon walked toward him and sat on its haunches beside his feet, waiting for orders. He hesitantly reached out a hand and scratched the Jolteon's ears, making the Pokemon rigid at the sudden intrusion but it quickly relaxed into the foreign but welcome touch.

This was the same with the others that were released. They would emerge, roaring and ready for battle before calming at seeing that there was none. This group consisted of an Aggron, Charizard, Dragonite, Feraligatr, Alakazam and of course the Jolteon.

This is when his head started to hurt as memories started coming back of how he originated here. He had recognized the team as the very same he used in his latest playthrough of Pokemon. He could remember holding his game and playing through after beating the Elite Four but besides that the rest was blank.

What he did remember though was that all of his Pokemon were male besides Dragonite and Jolteon and that they were all high leveled. He just couldn't put his finger on what specific level they all were. The items he also remembered as the same he had during his gaming adventure.

Through all this thinking he didn't notice that the rest of his Pokemon eyeing Jolteon as she purred in pleasure at the ear scratching he was giving her. What he did notice was the ground shaking as his Aggron shoved its head under his arm and growled. He soon got the point and started scratching the thick, black hide on its neck and gaining a satisfied rumble from the steel type.

The rest soon dogpiled him and he had to give them all a good scratching before they released him while feeling like having a heart attack the entire time. All of them wanted his direct attention, all but the Alakazam who watched the pile up with its sharp, black eyes.

A black cloud had loomed over them during this time and was soon followed by a hard rainfall. They were suitably covered by the forests dense foliage as the rain continued its onslaught but the Jolteon suddenly became rigid and faced a certain direction.

The Jolteon had sensed the sudden buildup of electricity and they watched her oddly for a second before the sky became bathed in light from lighting and the earth shook from thunder. That was when he returned his Pokemon and investigated the source of the strange strike of lightning to find a familiar boy and his Pikachu laying in the dirt.

Now they continued their slow trek to what he would guess was Viridian City where they could hear someone talking through a speaker phone but neither could make out the words.

"Oh no, Pikachu!" Ash's voice suddenly blaired in his ears. "Pikachu wake up! What's wrong!?"

He couldn't help grunting from annoyance, "He just fainted, probably tired from all that running around you guys did."

Ash suddenly pulled away from him, making Isaac stumble from the sudden shift. "Then lets hurry to the hospital! I wanna be sure that Pikachu's gunna be ok!"

Before Isaac could get a word in edgewise Ash had already began sprinting off down the path. "H-hey! Wait up would you!" He yelled and ran after the boy, holding his left leg from the small jolts of pain in his steps. "And it's called a Pokemon Center!"

By the time he was able to catch up Ash was in the sidecar of an officer jenny's motorcycle and driving away. He couldn't help but sputter un confusion, "W-w-what! Damnit Ash, what the hell!?" He knew this would happen from memories of past episodes but he didn't expect Ash to just leave him here.

Not long after, a girl carrying a dismantled and fried, black bike ran by him screaming after Ash and Jenny about her bike. She didn't make it hard for him to remember her as Misty.

Watching as they all sped off toward the city, he looked over to his left at the Policeman's post and spied a telephone with a phone book hanging from it. "Screw this I'm calling a cab."

After reaching the large structure of Viridian Cities own Pokemon Center he had entered to find Ash downtrodden as he sat by the doors of the emergency room. Still feeling tired from the run to town even after the cab ride he decided to sit by the wannabe master, wanting to give his leg some rest.

"So, I see that you made it here fairly quickly," he mumbled tiredly, dropping his large pack by their seats.

Ash looked up at him in surprise, "Woah, I didn't think I'd see you here."

He looked at ash blankly, "You didn't think you'd see a pokemon trainer at a pokemon center?" His words oozing sarcasm as he stared down at the younger trainer.

Ash laughed awkwardly as he scratched his head in embarrassment. That soon changed when Ash's face turned solemn as he returned his gaze back to the ER doors. It made him feel a little uncomfortable and awkward watching Ash be worried and turned to reassure him in Pikachu's recover before Ash suddenly stood up.

"I'm gunna call home." And thats all he heard before Ash started dialing the phone across the room. Not wanting to intrude on the coming conversation he allowed himself time to think. However, here was so many things going through his head that Isaac wasn't sure what to think about.

(-o-)

_Why didn't I keep my mouth shut? _Isaac inwardly groaned as he faced a giant screen of Professor Oak's face as it stared at him with a frown, curiosity shining in his wise eyes. Ash on the other hand looked upon him with intrigue and wonder.

Ash had to make something clear though, "Wait, so you saw that bird Pokemon create that rainbow too? and its name is Ho-Oh, and that ones Articuno?" Ash asked as he pointed at the blue, stone carved portraits of the Legendary birds.

Isaac inwardly groaned at his slip up. One does not simply share unkown knowledge of a Legendary Pokemon to the top leading Pokemon expert of Kanto. Especially if you are literally a nobody in the Pokemon world and someone that doesn't even have past records of his existence.

"I would also like to know how you know about an undocumented Pokemon!" Oak exclaimed excitedly as his frown broke into a massive smile. "There are only 150 known pokemon in Kanto and to learn that there's another is simply marvelous!"

Isaac decided to keep from saying a word about their being 151 Kanto Pokemon if he counted Mewtwo. Isaac's thoughts suddenly took a dark turn as thought of the powerful psychic type and its creation came to mind. Giovanni and his Rockets creating a creature a destruction would no doubt happen if he remembered things right.

The other two didn't seem to notice Isaacs sudden drop in mood as Oak continued to talk animatedly before it grounded to a halt, "Wait, how do you know about such a Pokemon and how do I know you're not just lying?"

"uhhhh, I travel a lot and I'm a very truthful person?"

Before any more words could be said a doorbell chimed through Oaks screen and all future questions screeched to a halt, "Whoops! I almost forgot about my Pizza! I'll be right back, you two stay right there!" And with that Oak disappeared, leaving a live feed of his empty laboratory.

Isaac gave a sigh of relief at his luck before going behind the counter to the computer Ash used to answer Oak's call with. Scanning the old boxy computer, at least old to his standards, as he tried to figure out how it worked.

"Umm, what are you doing?" Ash asked, walking up beside the taller man. "I'm trying to figure out how to turn this thing off."

Ash's face scrunched up in confusion but before he could question the man further the doors to the Pokemon Center pinged oped and a disheveled Misty came skulking in, ruined bike in tow. Her eyes landed on them and Isaac covered his ears as watched the redhead take a big gulp of air.

Ash was going to question him about his weird actions before understanding shone through him as Misty's voice rang loudly in the room, "I've been looking for you! Now you're gunna pay me off for this bike or-WOAH!" With that she fell over, her burnt bike falling with her.

Ash had ran over and tried to help her but that only seemed to spur Misty's rage as she continued to verbally bash her fellow trainer. Isaac stayed behind the computer, perching his elbows on the countertop and sinking his face in has hands as he wondered why he had to deal with all this crap in one day.


	2. Bare Bone Basics

"Okay, yet again, tell me the weakness of bug types."

Ash gave a tired groan as he trudged alongside Isaac, "Bugs are weak to fire and flying type Pokemon."

"What are flying types weak too?"

"Electric and rock types."

"And rock types?" Isaac asked with a slight grin. Finding some enjoyment with the younger trainers annoyed grunt as Ash scratched his head in thought.

This continued back and forth quiz had been going on since Ash was foolish enough to not only use an already weakened Caterpie he had captured but use it against a Pidgeotto as well. Isaac had forgotten about that little fuck up from the show and was now drilling new, helpful info into the boys skull. Ash had caught the flying pokemon in the end of course but that did not excuse the sheer stupidity of his actions.

It was very awkward when they first set off from the pokemon center from Viridian City after Team Rocket came busting in demanding pokemon. Isaac had began feeling even more nostalgic than before when Jessie, James, and Meowth had arrived in their familiar flashy fashion but that quickly changed when they had sic'd their Ekans and Koffing on them.

Isaac was more than happy to let the events play out naturally as they did before on the show. He ended up facepalming hard when Misty, who he knew for sure should be at least a qualified Gym Trainer at this point, released a Goldeen onto land to fight the dastardly trio. The fish flopped on the floor awkwardly until Misty finally recalled the poor thing, claiming she was just warming up.

Isaac, not in the mood with dealing with any more crap today, released Jolteon and ordered her to paralyze them. The three Rockets and their Pokemon didn't have a chance to react as they were hit with a strong current of electricity before fainting in a twitching heap of limbs. Ash, Misty, and the Nurse Joy had looked at Isaac with stunned silence, appalled that he was using his Jolteon to attack other humans. Isaac paid them no mind however, he had seen the three shocked more times than he could count so thought nothing of it.

He had to quickly bail however when he caught wind that the Nurse Joy was going into the back to call the police about the break in. Isaac's blood ran cold at the thought of having to be questioned and giving the authorities his non existent personal information. Something that he wished to avoid at all costs.

Ash had quickly followed, already given the ok that Pikachu would be fine. Misty had joined in as well, not wanting to let Ash get off so easily for frying her bike.

"Rock is weak to water, grass, ground and uhhh….." Ash drawled off in thought, "Ummm…..fighting?"

"Are you asking me or telling me, Ash?"

"...both?" Ash answered intelligently.

Isaac couldn't help but laugh as they continued walking through Viridian Forest. "Fighting type is right Ash but rock types are also weak to steel types."

Misty, having not spoken since Ash's crash course lessons began, finally spoke up, "What's a steel type?"

Isaac had almost lost his footing at being asked that question, his leg giving a sharp sting in agitation, only now realising his slip up that there were no steel-type Pokemon in this region. At Least not yet anyway. To his defence Isaac had quickly recovered, "It's a type rare to this region. Imagine a metallic Pokemon and thats pretty much what a steel type is."

He could show them Aggron but thought better of it. There was no need to release his Pokemon so freely, not until he was more familiar with them personally. Aggron would probably shake the earth and let out its monstrous battle cry when released and Isaac wanted to keep their walk peaceful. Attracting the attention of the Beedrill that Isaac remembered inhabiting the forest was something he wanted to avoid.

Meanwhile, Ash gave a curious look to Pikachu. His young, wild imagination made him see the electric mouse shining with a layer of metallic fur as Pikachu fired bolts of lightning and smashed rock with its metal fists. He couldn't keep the excitement from his voice, "That sounds so cool! Where could we find those Pokemon!?"

Misty gave an annoyed huff, "Weren't you listening? He said that they're rare and I doubt a thickheaded trainer like you could find one, let alone catch it."

"Atleast I'm not scared of bug Pokemon like you are!" Ash yelled angrily.

Misty only smirked, "So you agree with me that your thickheaded?"

Ash stared at her dumbly, not fully processing what she said until his face twisted in anger, "Oh yeah!? Caterpie, I chose you!"

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Isaac watched as the first of many fights between the two broke out and could only sigh tiredly, imagining many more in the future to come. Something he had to get use to if he was going to travel with Ash in his adventure. It was the most logical thing to do. He had knowledge of what the future entailed if he stuck with Ash and traveling by himself blindly was something that terrified him greatly. There was also greater chance of finding out what happened to himself to arrive in the world of Pokemon since Ash attracted pretty much all the legendary Pokemon in existence. One was bound to know how to send Isaac back, his vote was on mew. Until then, Isaac decided that he might as well teach Ash a thing or two about what he himself knew of Pokemon.

"Ash, keep that thing away from me!"

"Stop climbing on me Misty!"

But for now Isaac had to stop this fight from escalating, "Ash, stop teasing Misty about her phobia. Misty, don't belittle Ash, he's still learning."

"BUT HE/SHE STARTED IT!" They yelled in unison before Ash lost his balance with Misty landing on top of him.

"Ouch! Get off me your heavy!"

"What did you call me!"

Pikachu, not wanting to be near his trainer's wrestling match, hopped up onto Isaac's left shoulder. Isaac was ecstatic to have the electric mouse on his shoulder but suppressed his excitement at the action and instead chose to talk to the little electric type, "You know, thats the guy you'll be traveling with the rest of your life."

Pikachu gave a sigh, "Pika Pika….."

Not sure how to respond to that, Isaac instead chose to break up the fight now. That is, until he felt something crawl up his pant leg. Isaac's first instinct was to viciously kick off the very thing claiming his leg but stopped when he saw it was Ash's new Caterpie. The bug took its place on his right shoulder, warbling in confusion. As if asking Isaac why its new master was fighting.

Isaac just shook his head, "Because they are both young and dumb. A combination not uncommon for their age."

Pikachu crossed his arms and nodded sagely at his words. Isaac rolled his eyes with a smile at Pikachu's antics and returned to trying to break up the fight.

"Thats enough you guys, settle down."

The brawl continued unhindered.

"I said knock it off you two."

Dust began to rise as their wrestling became more heated and Isaac started losing sight of them. An idea wormed its way into his head and Isaac couldn't keep the evil smirk from working its way along his face.

"Hey! Can you two at least get a room!"

They stopped so fast Isaac was sure that time itself froze in place. Misty sat behind Ash's back, her legs wrapped around his chest and arms holding him in a headlock. Ash had a grip on Misty's thighs, having been in the middle of prying them off. Ash's face was drawn in a confused, blank stare, probably wondering why the fight suddenly stopped. Misty's, however, was a deep shade of crimson. It only got redder when she realized she was holding Ash's head to her chest and that Ash was grabbing her upper thighs.

She moved so fast Misty might as well have known how to teleport, leaping away from Ash and staring angrily at Isaac and leaving Ash on the ground, who still was confused about the fights abrupt stop. "What happened?"

Isaac smiled, "You said something stupid thats what. Never comment on a girls age or weight, Ash. It will only bring you pain."

Isaac turned his gaze toward Misty who was still peeved, "You, Misty, need to not be so uptight and loosen up."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She growled hotly through clenched teeth.

"I mean don't get all grabby on the first boy to say something stupid." Isaac's smile broadened, "Unless you like him of course."

Misty's face lit up like a Christmas light before she huffed angrily and stomped off ahead more flustered than before.

'Now I know why Dad would tease me all the time, it's fun as hell.' Isaac mentally laughed.

Meanwhile Ash had finally dragged himself off the ground with a tired groan, something that Isaac immediately took notice of. "You a little tired there kid?"

"Yeah, haven't slept since yesterday." Accompanying that sentence Ash released a yawn loud enough that any passerby could have mistaken him for a Snorlax.

This came of no surprise to him. The boy had run from a flock of Spearows for half a day and the whole night dealing with Misty's and Team Rocket's shenanigans before running off with Isaac in the dead of night.

Isaac had to fight from mimicking Ash's next wide yawn, "We should get some sleep. Wouldn't want to get lost from wandering around the woods in exhaustion."

* * *

"I can't feel my hands."

"Come on Ash, if you don't know how to start a fire how are you going to get far on your travels?"

Ash looked to Isaac's siting form on the log in the clearing they had chosen for the night, "Use a pokemon that knows how to use fire?"

Isaac gave the kid points for at least thinking of the idea but brushed it off, "And what if that Pokemon has fainted from exhaustion or their wounds?"

Ash gave a slight grumble as he continued to rub the stick against the split log Isaac gave him in what little light he had left to work with. Isaac felt slightly bad for doing this since he himself had never made a fire by hand before. He understood how to do it from his fathers constant hounding him during camping but never actually had a successful attempt. Not wanting to look like an idiot in front of the two he placed the sticks in Ash's hand, saying he would teach him something.

Isaac gave a silent groan when his left leg gave another painful sting. If he could have taken anything with him before coming to this world it would have been his pain meds. He had no worries of the pain at work since he sat at a computer all day at the design studio but it would no doubt get worse from all the walking.

The worst thing about it, at least to Isaac, was how he got the permanent injury. It wasn't in a fight with a gang, saving an innocent child, protecting his family, not even an animal attack. He just tripped walking home from work and got a piece of sharp shrapnel stuck in his leg while passing a construction sight.

With it being night no one was around and he had left his phone at his desk so he had to hobble his way home for hours to get to his other phone and by then the damage had been done.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Misty broke out laughing. Ash had apparently grew frustrated and started applying more force to his movements, cracking the stick and making him face plant into the ground.

Looking up to the sky, Isaac let loose a sigh at the lack of light and decided to give Ash a break. Isaac unclipped a ball from his belt and tossed it in front of Ash. The boy stared at it in confusion before it erupted in a flash of white and out came his roaring, battle ready Charizard.

The two kids both screamed at the sudden and loud arrival but Isaac ignored them, "Hey bud, can you light a fire for us?" The sudden arrival and roar of the fire type would no doubt bring attention to their little spot but Isaac was confident that the Beedrill and other bug types would be too intimidated to approach the fiery pokemon.

The dragon gave an obedient nod before blasting the wood pile in a wave of flames. The fire burned brightly for a few seconds before quickly dying, leaving only a pile of ash left where their pile of lumber once sat.

Isaac laughed, "You might want to tone it down to just an ember there Charizard."

Charizard gave a snort in annoyance while Isaac grabbed more from their gathered pile and set them up for him to light. After the task was done and they had a roaring fire for the night Isaac reclined back, resting his head against his backpack.

Charizard, not having received another command or returned to his ball, stood awkwardly in silence by his trainer's side. Noticing this, Isaac tiredly patted the ground beside him, making Charizard stare blankly at the gesture.

Isaac sighed, "Just sit with me Charizard and enjoy the night. Not everything we do has to involve battling."

Charizard, although still reluctant, sat beside his trainer quietly. Isaac reached up and started scratching below the large dragon's chin, making the fire type growl appreciatively. He had not really thought about it but his Pokemon acted quite strangely. The only thing that seemed to be wired into their brains was battling, anything else made them act awkward and uncomfortable.

'Was that because all I ever did with them in the game was battle?'

That thought disturbed him greatly. Sure it was just a game but now that he was here with them for real it made him feel guilty. That meant they had never experienced anything else except for battle ever since he traded and hatched them into his latest game.

Isaac's thoughts continued to follow a grim path before they were abruptly halted, "Hey, You alright there Mister."

Ash and Misty stared at Isaac with concern as his face slowly fell into a hard, dark stare to match his thoughts. Much to Isaacs concern Charizard didn't even seemed bothered by it, as if he had grown accustomed to seeing him in such a way.

Isaac immediately threw away his dark thoughts, shedding away the grim face to replace it with a forced smile, "Yeah, sorry about that."

Noticing that he had stopped scratching Charizard he continued much to the orange dragon's enjoyment, "Just thinking of something long ago, nothing you need to concern yourselves about."

An idea sprung into his thoughts to help steer them away from their concerns, "Hey, you guys wanna hear about the big guy here's battles that he bravely conquered?"

Misty seemed mildly interested but Ash had practically rocketed out of his seat from the ground in excitement, blabbering on of how he wanted to hear it all. Charizard gave him a strange look but didn't complain as Isaac continued scratching his hard scales.

It must've been strange for Charizard to hear any type of compliment or praise from him but Isaac was going to change that. With a glance to his Pokeball belt Isaac had one final thought before he began his tale of Charizard's accomplishments.

'I'll make it up to all of you guys, I swear it.'


End file.
